Blu-ray a joke?

[jostenmeat]

Thanks for the heads up on this.

Sure thing. That's why we all spend too much time here, right? give and take.

You are talking about the DRC in the A/V Receiver?

If that's where you choose to decode, yes. (PS3 user would have it triggered in the player, for instance).

In my Pioneer it defaults to "off"

Please report if DRC is not auto-triggered in your unit. I'd be very surprised. And it would actually score a serious point for me in favor of Pioneer.

 

[Gov]

Please report if DRC is not auto-triggered in your unit. I'd be very surprised. And it would actually score a serious point for me in favor of Pioneer.

I will be sure too

 

[Davemcc]

Please explain in simple terms about this DRC auto function. I went out and got the BD35 and I'm still trying to learn the ins and outs. It's my first foray into a stand-alone BD player after using the PS3 for a while.

 

[jostenmeat]

Hello Dave.

The DRC thing is very simple. Some audio tracks, specifically of the TrueHD kind, have a "flag" that is automatically turning on your DRC. Iron Man, for instance, is doing it to your PS3 as well, whether you knew that or not.

Its totally lame. I know, I know. If you select TrueHD (but bitstreamed), you'll simply have to hit "Late Night" on the Integra, you will see "Auto", and keep clicking the late night button until it says off. So, it appears the DRC flag basically happens wherever your decoding is taking place. With a PS3, its obviously in the player (can't bitstream), for instance.

Regarding your other post in the other thread, I'm about to fire up the HT, and will look at my own BD-30 settings. Its pretty strange you can't get audio yet.

j

 

[Davemcc]

I got audio by setting the player to PCM. I'm going to try your other suggestions now.

 

[Emusica]

Sorry, I've been trying to figure it out but can't. I will accept any flaming that I may/will receive from this question.

What is DRC?

I have the panny BD55 with a Sony STR DA-7ES receiver (no hdmi). I have the multi-channel analogs hooked up and the BD55 set to PCM, no secondary audio, 7.1 out, etc., so I can enjoy the new formats. I watched Iron Man in DoblyTHD, is this auto DRC affecting my listening pleasure?

 

[Adam]

DRC = Dynamic Range Control.

It allows you to have a smaller change in volume between quiet sounds (like whispering) and loud sounds (like tanks exploding). It compresses the total range of the volume down.

It's good for things like listening to movies at night with people sleeping close by. That way, you can hear the dialogue in the movie just fine, but explosions won't wake everyone else up.

 

[wiyosaya]

So I plunked down $300 for the Panasonic DMP-BD35K and another $75 for the Godfather trilogy, brought it home, hooked it all up and saw a beautiful rendition of two truly excellent films. I was more than excited about my purchase so trucked down to my neighborhood Blockbuser, picked up a copy of "The Incredible Hulk" and "Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull" (admittedly not great films but wanted to hear the action sound really come through) and now I am sitting on the floor as my player spits out the disks over and over again with the message "This disc cannot be played" and "Copyright Violation" or "Disc format not recognized."

Yes, I have the latest firmware updates. From searching around on the 'net, this is not an uncommon occurance. I'm sorry, but this format has enough doubters out there right now to not have to deal with crap like this. If Blu-Ray is a standard, then there is absolutely no reason why it shoot be a crap shoot as to whether individual disks will play on a given player.

What is the reason behind this? When will it stop and we have some predictability as to what disks will play? The format looks awesome, but my DVDs never looked bad and they ALWAYS played in the player. Hi-Def video through AppleTV doesn't look as good as Blu-Ray, but it looks pretty damn good and it also ALWAYS plays.

Is there a solution for this problem or is it just yet another "firmware" update (i.e. excuse)? Why do people put up with it?

One thing this might be is a dirty disc. I have rented DVDs from Blockbuster that after the "soap and water treatment" have played well. Then again, I do not own a Blu-ray player and have not rented Blu-ray discs, so I do not know if this is a problem with Blu-ray that could be solved by similar means.

Personally, I am glad I am waiting to get into the format.

However, (since no one has mentioned this in the thread) DVD had similar issues in its infancy. The Matrix used to be a "test disc". If your DVD player played it, chances are your DVD player would play most any DVD.

Unfortunately, I think this is another "ding" that the format cannot afford right now. I am not going to defend the format as I think that this is emblematic of rushing an immature technology to market.

My list of format "dings" that I believe are seriously hampering Blu-ray adoption:

1. Movies that do not play on every player
2. Draconian Blu-ray licensing fees
3. No stand-alone recorder in the US market
4. Draconian US market movie licensing (though this is not Blu-ray specific)

Unless Sony and the movie industry take steps to resolve these issues soon, I think these issues might just kill the format.

 

[darien87]

Hello Dave.

The DRC thing is very simple. Some audio tracks, specifically of the TrueHD kind, have a "flag" that is automatically turning on your DRC. Iron Man, for instance, is doing it to your PS3 as well, whether you knew that or not.

j

So how do you turn off DRC in the PS 3?

 

[j_garcia]

Audio settings menu. I turned this off and noticed a difference on a few movies, specifically ones I was cranking for the fun factor - like Iron Man.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

Digital Copy?

Is it the featured film BD or the Digital Copy?

I've been guilty of putting in the digital copy, instead of the actual featured film. Of course, it didn't work.

 

[CaliHwyPatrol]

I haven't done that yet. Interestingly enough, the digital copy says "Digital Copy" on it.

 

[darien87]

You know, now that you mention it, I do remember not being impressed with the sound of Iron Man. I think I had to crank the hell out of it for it to sound loud. I guess that explains it.

I HATE little hidden crap like this!

 

[jostenmeat]

You know, now that you mention it, I do remember not being impressed with the sound of Iron Man. I think I had to crank the hell out of it for it to sound loud. I guess that explains it.

I HATE little hidden crap like this!

Yep. Iron Man is definitely the worst in compression that I have ever heard on a movie track. You're going to love the improvement after you disable DRC.

This in of itself makes me somewhat prefer MA. But, allargon would tell you its not Dolby's fault; blame the studios.

 

[darien87]

Yep. Iron Man is definitely the worst in compression that I have ever heard on a movie track. You're going to love the improvement after you disable DRC.

This in of itself makes me somewhat prefer MA. But, allargon would tell you its not Dolby's fault; blame the studios.

Thanks for the heads-up. I never would have known.

 

[darien87]

So I turned DRC to "off" on my PS 3 last night.

Is it just the Iron Man disc that has this quirk, or do all Dolby TrueHD discs do this?

 

[jostenmeat]

Ever since discovering this, every time I've checked, TrueHD auto-flags DRC. However, it was only really ever with Iron Man that the difference was nearly as dramatic. I threw in Adventures of Baron Munchausen last night, and even that one auto-flagged.

 

[rnatalli]

I'm hoping Oppo releases their player in the near future

 

[jostenmeat]

I'm hoping Oppo releases their player in the near future

Oppo's reputation precedes itself, as can be seen by the numerous posts such as yours.

However, I seriously doubt their FW support could be nearly as good as Panasonic's, let alone Sony's. Unless they are going to hire a new team or something.

I'm speaking from the perspective of "less headaches" as an "early adopter". As for PQ for the money, well Panasonic's older models can already pass all of the HQV tests, so I'm not sure how much better you are expecting, especially considering the possible cost of such an Oppo player.

Now, if you want a standalone BDP + SACD, and all that jive, then sure.

Meh.

 

[darien87]

Ever since discovering this, every time I've checked, TrueHD auto-flags DRC. However, it was only really ever with Iron Man that the difference was nearly as dramatic. I threw in Adventures of Baron Munchausen last night, and even that one auto-flagged.

How were you able to tell that it auto-flagged?